China’s Biggest Investment Group Has Warren Buffett Style Ambitions

Fosun International is not a well-known name in China – but it is in fact China’s biggest investment group, whose numerous projects last year alone were worth 17.3 billion RMB (US$2.7 billion).

The group’s ambitions are global, and match those of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in their scope and investment clout. Fosun is Hong Kong-listed – 656:HK.

Fosun’s work has not yet been in China’s web or tech space – but there’s a tantalizing, untapped potential for the group to take some of China’s web companies international. For now though, the investment firm seems focused on the ‘advanced’ luxury and leisure sectors, which cater to the country’s increasingly sophisticated middle- and high-income groups.

Yesterday’s The Standard, an English-language Hong Kong paper, has a fascinating piece on Fosun, including an interview with its co-founder and president Wang Qunbin (pictured above), who started the firm in Shanghai on just a few thousand dollars back in 1992.

Like many Chinese companies, their tactic is to learn, and then outperform. Wang told The Standard:

We hope to learn from Buffett his insights in value discovery; from General Electric its corporate management; from Hutchison Whampoa its Asian company internationalization; and from Goldman Sachs asset management.

Fosun’s raison d’être seems best summed up in Wang’s line:

Our business model is: linking China’s growth momentum with global sources.

You can read the interview in full over at The Standard.

[Interview source: The Standard; Image source: Sina Finance portal]